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help- doing bedtime alone if your babies cry- a lot.
so i posted a weekish ago about ways of approaching bedtime by myself since my mom was here for 6 weeks, during which time we finally got our 4 mo old twins on an earlier bedtime & more set routine. ppl gave great suggestions, but after doing bedtime tonight just once, i realized i need to ask a new question- how do you do this if your kids scream for 45 straight minutes while you're trying to change them both into pjs, feed them both, soothe both, and that is not even counting a bath b/c tonight wasn't bath night....????!!!!
DS cried quite a bit but DD is a shrieker and screamed for a good portion of it, even with the vacuum on, which is pretty bad for her. I left the vacuum on while I simul-fed them & was able ot get them to both finish their bottles that way, but I need to figure out something better here... I'm thinking of doing baths & pj's a little while before the bottles since they generally begin to melt down at 6pm so maybe I can get that stuff over with before that time and then hopefully they can chill out til 630 when I usually feed them.
TIA for any & all tips...
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Re: help- doing bedtime alone if your babies cry- a lot.
Oh man, that's rough. I haven't had to do bedtime alone yet, and honestly, I don't think I could just yet!
We have also decided NOT to do baths as part of the bedtime routine. If it's a weeknight, we do them usually after dinner, but before we start dimming lights and doing "bedtime." M hates baths, and H gets wound up, so it doesn't work too close to bedtime for us.
Do you have the link to the post you wrote about a bedtime routine? I feel like ours could use some improvement! Or could you tell me what you are doing?
Thanks and good luck!
I just keep hoping at least one of mine will become the easier sleeper by Jan 4, when I go back to work and will have to come home & do the bedtime thing by myself. Ah!
I actually really enjoy the baths in the evening (when I'm back at work they can't be done during the day anyway...) and my LO's seem to enjoy them so far, so I'm still going to try to do it e/o night, just see how it goes.
Sara- here was my old post. Sorry I can't make it clicky. There are some good suggestions but some are for a bit older (I think- mine don't really play well in the crib on their own yet, but maybe that is just them) or for babies who are not quite as...umm...tempermental as mine, perhaps. I love the bumbo in the tub idea but mine are still a bit unsteady in the bumbo, although I think within a month they'll be great in it.
https://community.thebump.com/cs/ks/forums/thread/26882745.aspx
Yeah there is probably going to be a lot of crying involved until they get a little older and you have a really set bedtime routine that they are really used to. Right now you are trying to find what works best so there will be some bumps in the road. I also had to do bedtime by myself when my girls were this age and it was not fun.
My suggestions:
1) Do you have a crib soother or an activity mat with a moving light action above, something for them to look at while you bathe one and then you can switch and bathe the other. I bought the Ocean Wonders crib soothers for my girls cribs (the one with the big fish that moves with the little fish following behind) it plays music and the lights change colors and has movement. You can put it on to play for I think 18 min. is the longest setting. I would put one of them in their crib and turn this on, while I bathed then dressed her sister. Then I would switch them. Or you could put one on the activity mat to play on the bathroom floor while you bathed the other baby and then switch. My girls loved the Baby Einstein activity mat because it had this star at the top that played music and had lights that moved to the music, they would just look up and it and smile and kick their legs, it kept them content for about 20 min. when I need to do something with the other one.
2) When I was ready for their feeding I would sit in front of the loveseat we had in their room on the floor and put each one of them in a boppy on either side of me facing me and feed them at the same time. When it was time to burp, one would get mad because she had to wait to be burped or fed again, but it was for only about a minute and then I could start feeding again.
3) If they are holding and grabbing toys, I would have some toys down on the floor with you that they could hold when you are doing something with one to keep the other one content.
Again there will be some crying involved until you figure out the logistics of your routine. And of course once you figure it all out and have it done like clockwork, they will change on you and you will need to adjust your plan. Like they will start rolling away when you are trying to burp one and the other is waiting, things like that. It all continues to change over the first year. Just remember as long as at the end of the day, they are in dry diapers, fed and in bed you did your job. There may be tears along the way from all three of you, but you will get through it.